The French Atomic Energy Commission has signed a four-year
R&D contract with the three partners of the Crolles2 Alliance -
STMicroelectronics, Philips and Freescale Semiconductor - to
jointly develop nanoelectronic technologies for 45nm, 32nm and
below CMOS nodes on 300mm wafers.
The French commission, known as CEA, will use its CEA-Leti
branch to carry out the research in a new 300mm facility in
Grenoble, France, called Nanotec 300, which was inaugurated
yesterday.
CEA said research activities will cover four areas: advanced
patterning; front-end materials and process steps; advanced
devices; and back-end materials and process steps.
The programmes will be carried out in conjunction with the
existing relationships between the three Crolles2 Alliance members
and their research partners, including IMEC in Leuven, Belgium, and
the Dan Noble Center in Austin.
This agreement is an extension of the previous CMOS research
program on 200mm wafers between CEA-Leti and ST in the Grenoble
area.